A cutting board is found in almost all kitchens, both residential and commercial. They are usually stored during nonuse, typically in a cabinet drawer or closet, and taken out when needed. However, some people like the visible presence of a cutting board in the kitchen.
Cutting boards are used as a surface on which to prepare various types of foods including fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, etc. A cutting board provides a flat work surface to slice, dice, chop, pare, and otherwise process foods to their desired size, shape and/or consistency. A cutting board protects the countertop or other surface on which it is placed from damage during this processing. For those cutting boards that include a perimeter groove or channel, such groove or channel helps collect liquids and juices and/or stops those liquids and juices from spilling over the edge of the cutting board. The mobility of a cutting board helps with the disposal of wastes. Wastes that collect on a cutting board are disposed of by carrying the waste-containing cutting board to a waste bin and dumping the waste.
Most people wipe off or clean a cutting board between uses for different foods to avoid undesirable effects such as, for example, altering the taste of the foods. Especially when preparing certain types of raw foods, e.g., fish, beef, pork, and, poultry, it is important to properly clean a cutting board to remove bacteria (e.g. salmonella, listeria, and Escherichia coli), and avoid food contamination (cross-contamination) and food-borne diseases. Sometimes it is important to clean a used cutting board to protect people with food allergies. For example, people with Celiac's disease cannot have their food come in contact with other foods or utensils that have gluten, necessitating a thorough cleaning of a cutting board after use with certain foods.
Most cutting boards can be rinsed or washed either by hand or by placing them inside a dishwasher for cleaning like most other kitchen utensils. Washing and drying a cutting board, however, adds time to the food preparation process and requires at least some movement in the kitchen from the location where the cutting board is being used to the sink and/or the dishwasher. There is also a chance for improper or inadequate cleaning of the cutting board due to the washer's negligence and/or spatial limitations (e.g., the cutting board is larger than the sink and does not fit therein for cleaning). In some instances, particularly in a commercial kitchen where a clean cutting board is often needed, multiple cutting boards are utilized to decrease the amount of lost time. In some instances, storage space and counter space is limited. Accordingly, many users do not have the luxury of having multiple cutting boards in their kitchens or the extra counter and/or table surface areas on which to use multiple cutting boards. Thus, there is a need for an improved cutting board device.